A Mortal Enemy

Chapter 7: Haunted

The next few moments happened in slow motion. She felt Snape's hand in hers, searching for reassurance. Kara didn't have much to give but she squeezed his hand gently and looked up at his face. There was only a single moment of panic there but it was quickly replaced by a steely look of resolve.

"Go wake the other Professors and assemble everyone in the staff room. I will owl the Ministry and the school governors and ensure that the wards on the castle are in place. I only hope He doesn't come here next," Snape said as he let go of her hand and strode into the office.

Kara didn't need to be told twice. She turned immediately and ran towards Professor McGonagall's room. Minerva hadn't slept at all and was waiting for the arrival of some news about Dumbledore tonight. Together they awoke the rest of the staff and within a half hours time all the Professors had assembled in the staff room. Snape burst in with his usual dramatic flare; his robes flowing behind him.

"I have been informed that the Ministry has been attacked in London. I am yet unaware of the circumstances but it appears that the Headmaster was there and was able to thwart the attack by facing Voldemort himself. Although I cannot confirm he is dead, I can say with certainty he has left the castle with the intent of not returning," Snape said as calmly as possible.

There was a slight pause in his speech where he was going to allow for the obligatory panic among the other teachers, but it didn't happen. He was only met with expectant gazes as they waited to hear what he planned to do next.

"At this time I want to station each of you at an entrance to the castle. Flitwick and Sinistra take the north entrance. It is the most vulnerable and therefore the most likely method of entry. Sprout and Vector, you each take one of the South entrances. Hagrid - stand guard over the entrance to the Great Hall through the gardens. Minerva, Kara I need you to run an errand with me and then guard the west gates.

"At this time we will not inform any of the students. Hopefully it will be unnecessary to do so until the morning."

All the Professors nodded and left to stand post their assigned places.

"We're going to bring Potter to the Chamber," Snape said quietly to Kara and McGonagall once the staff room was cleared.

"Is that really necessary?" McGonagall inquired. There was as hint of panic in her voice.

"I want to take no chances. While we're at it we might as well put the Weasleys and Ms. Granger in there as well. And I want that damned map!" he said with venom in his voice as he stormed out of the staff room.

Kara and Minerva had to run to keep up with Snape as he headed for Gryffindor Tower. The portrait swung open quickly as if it was afraid he would walk right through it without stopping. He swooped up the stairs, taking two at a time, to the boy's dormitories.

Kara didn't know why, but she wasn't surprised when she saw that Harry wasn't sleeping. It would account for the fact he hadn't dreamt of the attack on the Ministry and summoned her. But he was less than impressed to see three of his Professors standing in his room, flustered and out of breath.

"Weasley, wake up," Snape shouted. "Potter, get that map and your Invisibility Cloak. Minerva, go wake Ms. Weasley and Ms. Granger. Hurry," Snape snapped instructions.

"Professor?" Harry directed at Kara, not Snape. He stumbled out of bed. "What is going on?"

"Save the questions for later Potter. We do not have time for them now," Snape shot back.

A very groggy Ron Weasley lifted his head out of bed and jumped slightly when he saw Snape in his room.

"Ron get up, we have to go," Harry said impatiently as he pulled the covers off of Ron's bed, leaving the groggy redhead exposed to the cold night air. Harry then grabbed his wand, his Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map from the trunk at the foot of his bed. He dragged Ron out of the room by an arm. The other three boys in the dorm were gazing at them quizzically.

They met McGonagall and the two girls in the common room and led them out of through the portrait.

"Professor, where are we going?" Hermione asked.

"We don't have time for questions Ms. Granger, please just follow us," McGonagall replied.

"We're going to the Chamber. Something has happened hasn't it?" Harry asked as he half-jogged to keep up with Snape. No one answered his question.

When they reached the portrait of Eliza, it flung open at Snape's will. There was no time to wait for Harry to remember and execute the incantation with his mind. Kara noted that it was the first time Snape had used his Inner Focus this whole company, although she and Harry were probably the only ones who could appreciate that fact. Snape, his mind focused on the task at hand, herded them all inside the marble corridor and shut the portrait behind him.

"Where is the map? Activate it. And I need to know all the secret passageways into the castle," Snape snapped.

Harry looked puzzled, but when he saw the seriousness on not only Snape's face, but Kara's and McGonagall's as well, he pulled the map out, touched his wand to it and softly muttered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Snape tilted his head inquisitively and looked over Potter's shoulder as the younger wizard pointed out the passageways he was familiar with. Kara was astonished as she saw the lines appear on the map. This was clearly an item full of Dark Magic. What on earth was Harry doing with it, and how could Snape possibly have let him keep it in good conscience?

"Through Honeydukes? Shit." Snape whispered.

Everyone gasped. It was the first time any of them had ever heard Snape swear. Even Professor McGonagall blushed slightly.

"Professor, you should probably know that Wormtail would know about that entrance," Harry said. Kara could tell he wished he didn't have to share that piece of information with Snape.

"How is that exactly Mr. Potter?"

"The four of them made this map. My father, Lupin, Sirius and Wormtail."

Snape rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Very well. The four of you are to stay in the Chamber until Professor Lynch or I come for you," Snape said resolutely as he turned to walk out of the portrait. He paused momentarily, reached inside his cloak and pulled out a gold chain with a ring on it. He handed it to Harry.

"My Ring? Why do you have it? Why isn't it with Dumbledore?" Harry probed, slightly upset.

No one answered.

"Oh my god..." Hermione said as she grabbed a hold of Harry's arm.

"He's gone isn't he?" Ron asked, catching on.

"That is a possibility Mr. Weasley," Snape said as he sighed slightly.

Harry reached out and took the Ring from Snape, reluctantly. He held it in his hand momentarily, taking in the significance of the action and then hung it around his neck. Harry then swallowed hard and turned. The other three students looked timidly at him as he walked alone into the dark corridor and simultaneously began to follow him. Kara glanced at Snape. He looked flushed for a moment, and then he seemed to gather his thoughts as he turned and held the portrait open for them to walk out.

* * *

Kara and McGonagall stood by the west gates to the castle. The elder Professor agreed to watch the skies and Kara was able to watch the grounds. For nearly five hours they stood in silence, McGonagall with her wand at her side and Kara with her arms calmly folded across her body.

Years later Kara would recall those early hours and remark how lucky they were that nothing serious happened, at least nothing that brought her to the point of using her powers. However, despite the lack of Voldemort's presence at the castle, the morning was nonetheless bizarre.

Kara took her eyes off the black depths of the forest long enough to regard the morning sky as it turned from pitch black to deep blue. A lark in the distance could be heard reigning in the morning stillness. Snape approached them silently. He hadn't come by since seeing them safely to their guard post hours ago and had been running about enforcing the enchantments around the castle. He looked dreadfully tired and even his usually perfect posture appeared to be suffering from the lack of sleep. The three Professors stood in silence as they gazed out upon the landscape.

"We will wake the students in a half hour. I have put up wards against the castle to prevent Owl delivery. I want to ensure that the students are informed by us and not the Daily Prophet," he began after a short time.

Kara and Minerva nodded in agreement. But as soon as the words had erupted from Snape's lips, the shadow of a creature was seen in the sky, defiantly flying towards them. It was an owl. McGonagall held out an arm for the bird to land on. Kara was sure she had never seen a black owl before, let alone one with a heavily speckled white face. Reluctantly, Snape untied the note from the owl's leg. He unrolled what looked like a large piece of parchment and a smaller scrap of paper that was folded inside. He read both quickly and inspected the bird with his penetrating glare. He held out his arm for it to step onto.

Snape looked at Kara and she heard in his mind "This is not an owl. Follow me, but do not say anything until it has left."

Kara obeyed and followed Snape, leaving a very curious Minerva behind to watch the west gates alone. They walked to the Headmaster's office and Snape dropped his arm, allowing the owl to flutter onto the floor. The door to the small room closed.

Kara heard the screeching of the owl and then moments later saw the bird transform from animal to human - no doubt as a result of Snape forcing it to change with his mind. But the human was unrecognizable. It was wearing a black cloak, and a mask - a Death Eater mask. With his mind, Snape threw the person against the door to the office and then with the most gentle of natures he walked over and stared down at the stranger, his nose just inches from the mask.

Over a minute passed by as Snape stood there, intimidating the frozen Death Eater. Kara could see gray eyes scanning Snape's face from beneath the mask. Kara inwardly regarded the face covering as a brilliant idea on Voldemort's part. If the person standing in front of Snape was afraid, no one would ever know. That is until Snape reached up and put a single finger under the chin of the mask and pulled up to reveal the face of Voldemort's slave. Kara nearly gasped.

It was Draco Malfoy.

Snape stepped back and seemed to be carefully wondering how to handle the situation. All of his training with Nabokov would be called into play now.

"Mr. Malfoy. I have to admit I was not expecting you. Do sit down," Snape said cordially as he turned and sat behind his desk.

Draco didn't move. Kara was feeling some trepidation surrounding the fact that Snape did not disarm the boy, but he had told her not to say anything. She had to trust his judgment.

"How was your flight Mr. Malfoy?" Snape asked as he pulled out a quill, parchment and ink.

Draco didn't answer. Snape looked up with a bemused look on his face.

"I assure you, Mr. Malfoy, that He will not care if we engage in idle chit chat. Sit down."

'He' must be Voldemort, Kara thought. But how would Voldemort even know what was said in this room? Kara thought back to when she met the Lestranges and how he had found out they were engaged because of what was said in the safe house. Voldemort must place some telepathic charms on his Death Eaters, but Snape never seemed to have suffered from that problem. Kara tucked the question away for later.

Draco looked at Kara and then at Snape and walked towards a chair. He sat it in slowly, attempting to stealthily survey the room as he went. Perhaps he was identifying his point of egress or contemplating a dueling strategy.

"It is a shame Minerva wasn't here to see that little display Mr. Malfoy. I'm sure she would be quite proud," Snape said sarcastically without looking up.

His quill scratched away on the parchment for several minutes before he rolled it up, sealed it with wax and set it on the desk. He then stood and walked towards Draco.

"How was your summer, Mr. Malfoy?" Snape asked. Snape was never one for small talk and Kara wondered just where he was going with this.

Draco never answered; he simply stared at a random place on the wall.

"I see. Unwilling to engage in polite conversation with your old Head of House? Very well, let's get on with it then. Are you aware of the contents of that letter?" Snape probed.

Draco turned his head and looked up at Snape's towering figure.

"Vaguely."

"I am sure then you are aware that both of your parents are dead?"

"I am aware," Draco said calmly.

"I seem to remember you were rather close to your mother. I would expect to see you more moved over this event, considering the fact that she died just hours ago."

There was no reaction from Draco. He was as stone faced as ever.

Draco's arm raised in the air a few moments later. Kara could tell from the look of shock that crossed his face that he wasn't controlling it. A single long finger from Snape's hand extended and rose dramatically in the air. The sleeve of Draco's cloak lifted up to reveal the unmistakable Dark Mark.

That explained his lack of emotions.

Snape reached out to touch it and Draco curled away before he had a chance.

"It hurts doesn't it Mr. Malfoy?" Snape teased.

No response.

"Mine hurt for well over a year on it's own. The pain does go away, I assure you. At least when He's not using it for his own purposes."

Snape grabbed hold of Draco's arm and placed a thumb firmly on the Dark Mark. Kara knew what this meant. Draco cringed slightly.

"Now he knows you really did come to see me, in case he has any doubts," Snape said as he let go.

Draco yanked the sleeve of his cloak back down over the Mark. He looked angry.

"Do you have any questions for me? I'm sure there are things you - and Voldemort - want to know," Snape said as he sat back down behind the large desk.

"Why did you leave Him?" Draco asked immediately.

Did Voldemort send him here as a messenger or an interrogator?

"There is more to being a Death Eater than enchanted ink Mr. Malfoy. There is intent and motivation, and I guarantee that neither of those has changed for me since the day I first knelt before Him. In that regard, I am still very much a Death Eater."

"But you betrayed him," Draco said without hesitation.

"I did not. I simply failed to mention something that no one else knew about my past," Snape replied.

"Is that not the same thing as a lie?"

"A lie would have been using it and then denying I had. I have never used it against Him and therefore I have never had to lie about it. I will admit that I managed to never mention it to Voldemort, but then again I never mentioned it to anyone. However, I doubt He sees the difference and my body no longer handles the Cruciatus curse as well as it used to. Therefore I do not come to meetings anymore."

Draco sat for several minutes, taking in this information. In what seemed like a spell induced dropping of his guard, he leaned forward, put both hands on his knees and rested his head on his palms. He looked physically exhausted; as if he wanted to give up living. Draco then sat up and looked like he was about to begin pouring out his soul to the Dark Professor when Snape stood abruptly.

"Now transform and let me tie this to your leg. Then get out of my sight," Snape snapped.

Draco stood timidly, closed his eyes and transformed into the black owl. Snape leaned down, tied the scroll he had prepared to Draco's leg and then held open the window for him to leave through. When he was gone, Snape turned to her.

"What did the letter say?" she asked.

He fetched it from the desk. It read:

"Congratulations Severus. Soon you will hear of my greatest triumph to date, the death of Albus Dumbledore. He died gloriously in front of me and he realized all too late that no one can stop the inevitable. I am sad to have lost so many loyal Death Eaters in battle. Aurors killed your good friends, the Lestranges and Dumbledore himself took Lucius Malfoy from our flock. However, I imagine that you will be elated by this news, as it only helps to further your rise to power at Hogwarts. Narcissa, his wife, faired less well and killed herself when she heard her beloved was dead. Despite my losses I am still surrounded by many loyal Death Eaters, and it pains me to know that you betrayed me after all of these years. I will repay you for that. - Lord Voldemort"

"He wrote you to brag?" It was a rhetorical question, and Snape didn't bother answering.

"I don't understand what all of that with Malfoy was about," Kara said. "How did you know the owl was an Animagus?"

"Because there are no natural species of owls with those colorings and because of the anti-owl charms on the castle," he replied calmly.

"And the little speech about intent and motive?"

"For Voldemort's sake only," Snape replied as he took the letter from her and set it on the desk.

"Was he listening to that?"

"Yes, he was listening through Malfoy. It's one of the more annoying aspects of the Mark he puts on his Death Eaters." Snape lifted her hands with his mind and took them in his.

"But you never had that problem?"

"No, I did not. When I came to Dumbledore to tell him of my intent to leave the Death Eaters, he managed to convince Fawkes to shed tears for me onto the Dark Mark itself. He was hoping that it would completely counteract the curses and I would be free. Unfortunately it only removed the telepathy charms. I still felt the summons, but I was at least free to discuss anything."

"And Voldemort never noticed?"

"He knew I had gone to Dumbledore, but he thought I did so as a spy. He regarded Dumbledore's attempts to remove my Dark Mark as quaint. The entire time he thought he had so cleverly placed a spy deep within his enemy's inner circle without giving a second thought to the Phoenix tears."

Kara wrapped her arms around Snape and rested her head on his chest. The midnight blue of the sky outside was turning into a brilliant periwinkle. Kara smiled as she realized Snape now had windows in his office. He was going to hate it. But this simply brought her back to the moment. He had to address the school soon.

"So now what?" she asked, hoping to bring him back to reality.

"Now we bring Draco back to Hogwarts," he said without hesitation.

Kara pulled away from him. That wasn't what she was expecting to hear.

"What?"

He picked up the scrap of paper that had been curled up inside the large scroll. He handed it to her. Scrawled onto the paper, in Draco Malfoy's hurried handwriting were the words:

I want out.

Kara looked at Snape. He looked haunted.

---

by Ezzie -- http://ezziem.livejournal.com

Notes: This chapter has some things that probably need explaining. My great beta reader (Sarah!) pointed out to me that Snape seems a little rough with Malfoy. Well Snape is in general a rough person. From Malfoy's perspective, Snape probably seems like an uncaring a**hole. Think how Harry feels in Canon most of the time. I was going for that effect. Also ask yourself WHY Snape might behave that way in this situation. What was Draco just about to say for the two Professors (and Voldemort) to hear? I hope that came across in the writing.

Thanks for the reviews =) Be sure to let me know if you think I'm off my rocker with my Snape depiction. That's the most important thing to me with this story. I want to keep him in character.